City cancels bike-sharing program, pledges to relaunch in 2019

Image supplied by: Journal File photo

Marred by component recalls and recent weather, the City cancelled its bike-sharing program for the year on Friday.

Dropbike Inc., the company contracted to run the program, suffered delays in launching earlier this year due to a recall of bike components. After a large snowfall on Nov. 16, the City decided to scrap the program until the spring of 2019.

The program was originally slated to begin in June, but was pushed to July after Dropbike’s recall. It was then later projected for September, and again missed a full rollout.

Last week, the City intended to launch a small amount of bikes but cancelled those efforts due to the weather.

Before the delays, Dropbike ran a local pilot in 2017 and was chosen to provide bikes for the City from 2018 to 2021.

The program would include 50 bike-sharing stations where bikes could be picked up and left for use around Kingston.

In a statement, Paul MacLatchy, the City’s environment director, said, “We continue to see the value in the Dropbike program as it provides a community bike-sharing service that will support our active transportation and climate action goals at no cost to the city.”

“While the city is disappointed that Dropbike was unable to provide service during 2018, the program will be fully ready to roll out in the spring of 2019,” MacLatchy said.

Tags

bike sharing, City of Kingston, Dropbike

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